Bemidji junior breaks records

February 17, 2009

NSU's Lesnar, Suther place 11th, 12th in men's heptathlon BY JOHN PAPENDICK jpapendick@aberdeennews.com Even though a Minnesota man's 24 hours of hard work in Aberdeen resulted in national recognition, Zac Preble was already thinking about his next job. The Bemidji State junior from Coleraine, Minn., won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference seven-event heptathlon Monday in Aberdeen. Many consider the winner as laying claim to the title of best athlete in the conference. Preble broke a school, conference and Barnett Center record with 5,012 points, the fifth best mark in Division II this winter. Abilene (Texas) Christian University senior Camille Vandendriessche leads the nation with 5,453 points. “Now, all my focus goes toward the team at the NSIC (indoor track and field championships),” said Preble, whose win earned 10 points for his team at the NSIC championships Feb. 27-28 at Bemidji. “I want to help my team get as many points as possible at the conference championships. After that, I will start thinking about the heptathlon nationals.” Preble is always striving for more, whether it is on the track or in the classroom, where he is an academic All-American. Preble's goal coming into the meet was to break 5,000 points for the first time in his career. The now three-time NSIC heptathlon champion did so with excellent marks in the long jump and shot put on Sunday's first day at the Barnett Center. However, Preble was quick to add, “I could have done better in a couple of events.” On Sunday, St. Cloud State junior Heather Miller of Sun Prairie, Wis., won the women's pentathlon with a NSIC and school record 3,686 points at the Barnett Center. Miller's point total is the third best in the nation this season. University of Pennsylvania senior Maddy Outman is the Division II leader with 3,807 points. With the four new, quality schools expanding the NSIC to 14 members this year, competition has exploded in all sports. There were 32 athletes entered in the two competitions this weekend, and 14 of them broke provisional qualifying marks to put themselves into consideration for the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships March 13-14 in Houston, Texas. “This conference has gotten so much better, and it has been a lot of fun,” said Preble. “It has definitely become one of the best conferences in the country.” NSU had two athletes in the heptathlon. Senior Brady Lesnar of Webster scored 4,069 points for 11th and freshman Austin Suther of Langford was 12th with 3,930 points. Lesnar was in third place after the first day that featured some of his best events. “Brady struggled in the (55-meter) hurdles and the 1,000 (meters) today,” Northern State track coach Jim Fuller said. “He knows the second day is always a tough one for him. But he'll keep training hard and get ready for the decathlon outdoors.” This was only the second heptathlon for Suther. He scored 233 more points than his his first try a couple of weeks ago. “Austin had a dramatic improvement in his hurdling, and that was really good,” said Fuller. “He is only a freshman and he is going to get there.” Men's Heptathlon 1, Zac Preble, Bemidji State, 5,012 points: 55-meter hurdles, 8.2; pole vault, 13-3 ; 1,000 meters, 2:55.98. 2, Bryan Schiller, Mary, 4,552 points: 55-meter hurdles, 8.79; pole vault, 14-3 ; 1,000 meters, 2:54.44. 3, Chris Parno, Minnesota-Duluth, 4,539 points: 55-meter hurdles, 8.23; pole vault, 11-7 ; 1,000 meters, 2:49.39. 4, Jimmy Warmuth, Minnesota-Duluth, 4,317 points: 55-meter hurdles, 7.99; pole vault, 9-8; 1,000 meters, 2:49.87. 5, Lucas Torres, Minnesota State-Mankato, 4,310 points: 55-meter hurdles, 8.71; pole vault, 11-11 ; 1,000 meters, 2:48.0. 6, Cody Diehl, Wayne State College, 4,302 points: 55-meter hurdles, 10.05; pole vault, 15-3; 1,000 meters, 3:05.03. 7, Andrew Stueck, St. Cloud State, 4,207 points: 55-meter hurdles, 9.12; pole vault, 10-0; 1,000 meters, 2:51.66. 8, Drew Molacek, Wayne State College, 4,182 points: 55-meter hurdles, 8.6; pole vault, 11-11 ; 1,000 meters, 3:00.15. 9, Rhegy Gelo, Bemidji State, 4,104 points: 55-meter hurdles, 9.75; pole vault, 13-3 ; 1,000 meters, 2:52.92. 10, Dusty McColley, St. Cloud State, 4,091 points: 55-meter hurdles, 10.22; pole vault, 11-7 ; 1,000 meters, 2:58.4. 11, Brady Lesnar, Northern State, 4,069 points: 55-meter hurdles, 9.04; pole vault, 11-11 ; 1,000 meters, 3:28.76. 12, Austin Suther, Northern State, 3,930 points: 55-meter hurdles, 9.13; pole vault, 9- ; 1,000 meters, 2:57.76. 13, Cris Jirele, St. Cloud State, 3,895 points: 55-meter hurdles, 8.92; pole vault, 9- ; 1,000 meters, 2:52.98. 14, Zachary Flies, Minnesota State-Mankato, 3, 430 points: 55-meter hurdles, 8.55; pole vault, 7- ; 1,000 meters, 3:39.69.